simple past

THE PASSIVE VOICE

This is one of the most difficult topics in English language. There are many ways to say one same thing, so, some people apply it in order to avoid the repetition or to seem very polite. Today I am going to explain it to you use it as well, HERE WE GO!!!

Before starting I have to leave clear that ACTIVE VOICE is the normal way to use the language, I mean, the use of SUBJECT+VERB+OBJECT, (remember that every tense has its own variation). So in PASSIVE VOICE the original OBJECT will be the SUBJECT of the sentence, in other words it would be something like this OBJECT+BE+VERB PP+SUBJECT.  It is easy and you will understand it.

The first thing you have to know is that the verb to be is so necessary; you are going to need it. You can make passive voice sentences in any tense conjugating that verb in the time you want to speak.

Another thing you must know about this topic is that the main verb must go in its past participle conjugation, if you want to know more about conjugations click here.

And the most important thing about this is… the object of the sentences will be the subject. If you don’t get it, don’t worry, we will see some examples in order to understand it. The original subject in the Active Voice is not necessary in the Passive Voice sentence, if you want to put it, it’s up to you. In my opinion, I prefer to put it because it gives more information and it is clearer.

And finishing, when you turn an ACTIVE VOICE sentence into a PASSIVE VOICE one, you have to think that the normal conjugation rules also apply to the new SUBJECT. Let’s see the examples to get it.

Here a little chart where you can see all the possible conjugations of it.

Let’s see some examples.

1. Active Voice:  “Sammy Plays tennis”. As you can see that sentence is in Simple Present, so the passive voice must go in Simple present as well but this time using the verb to be and the verb in PP (Past Participle), something like this “The tennis is played by Sammy (or ´her´ if you don’t want to write the name again)”

2. Active: The soldiers are running in the field (sentence in Present Progressive “ing”)

PASSIVE: The field is being run by the soldiers (They)

3. ACTIVE: I have ridden the same motorcycle (Sentence in Present Perfect “have”)

PASSIVE: The same motorcycle has been ridden by me

Hello everyone, Today I want to share this pretty story, remember to share it with your friend or with people who may need this material.

A House for Hermit Crab

By ERIC CARLE

“It is time to move,” said Hermit Crab one day in January. “I’ve grown too big for this little shell.” Hermit Crab had felt safe and snug in his shell. But now it was too snug. He stepped out of the shell and onto the floor of the ocean. But it was frightening out in the open sea without a shell to hide in. “What if a big fish comes along and attacks me?” he thought. “I must find a new house soon.”

Early in February, Hermit Crab found just the house he was looking for. It was a big shell, and strong. He moved right in, wiggling and waggling about inside it to see how it felt. It felt just right. “But it looks so-well, so plain,” thought the Hermit Crab.

In March, Hermit Crab met some sea anemones. They swayed gently back and forth in the water. “How beautiful you are!” said Hermit Crab. “Would one of you be willing to come and live on my house? It is so plain, it needs you.” “I’ll come,” whispered a small sea anemone. Gently Hermit Crab picked it up with his claw and put it on his shell.

In April, Hermit Crab passed a flock of starfish moving slowly along the sea floor. “How handsome you are!” said the Hermit Crab. “Would one of you be willing to decorate my house?” “I would,” signaled a little sea star. Hermit Crab picked it up with his claw and put it on his house.

In May, Hermit Crab discovered some coral. They were hard, and they didn’t move. “How pretty you are!” said the Hermit Crab. “Would one of you be willing to help make my house more beautiful?” “I would,”  creaked a crusty coral. Carefully, Hermit Crab picked it up with his claw and placed it on his shell.

In June, Hermit Crab came upon a group of snails crawling over a rock on the ocean floor. They grazed as they went, picking up algae and bits of debris, and leaving a neat path behind them. “How tidy and hard-working you are!” said Hermit Crab. “Would one of you be willing to help clean my house?” “I would,” offered one of the snails. Happily, Hermit Crab picked it up with his claw and placed it on his shell.

In July, Hermit Crab came upon several sea urchins. They had sharp, prickly needles. “How fierce you look!” said Hermit Crab. “Would one of you be willing to protect my house?” “I would,” answered a spiky sea urchin. Gratefully, Hermit Crab picked it up near his shell.

In August, Hermit Crab and his friend wandered into a forest of seaweed. “It is so dark here,” thought Hermit Crab. “How dim it is,” murmured the sea anemone. “How gloomy it is,” whispered the starfish. “How murky it is,” complained the coral. “I cannot see!” said the snail. “It is like nighttime!” cried the sea urchin.

In September, Hermit Crab spotted a school of lantern fish darting through the dark water. “How bright you are!” said the Hermit Crab. “Would one of you be willing to light up our house?” “I would,” replied one lantern fish. And it swam over near the shell.

In October, Hermit Crab approached a pile of smooth pebbles. “How sturdy you are!” said the Hermit Crab. “Would you mind if I arranged you?” “Not at all,” answered the pebbles. Hermit Crab picked them up one by one with his claw and built a wall around his shell. “Now my house is perfect!” cheered Hermit Crab.

But in November, Hermit Crab felt that his shell was a bit too small. Little by little, over the year, Hermit Crab had grown. Soon he would have to find another bigger home. But he had come to love his friends, the sea anemone, the starfish, the coral, the sea urchin, the snail, the lantern fish, and even the smooth pebbles. “They have been so good to me,” thought Hermit Crab. “They are like a family. How can I ever leave them?”

In December, a smaller hermit crab passed by. “I have outgrown my shell,” she said. “Would you know of a place for me?” “I have outgrown my house too,” answered Hermit Crab. “I must move on. You are welcome to live here-but you must promise to be good to my friends.” “I promise,” said the little crab.

The following January, Hermit Crab stepped out and the little crab moved in. “I could not stay in that shell forever,” said Hermit Crab as he waved goodbye. The ocean floor looked wider than he had remembered, but Hermit Crab was not afraid. Soon he spied the perfect house-a big, empty shell. It looked, well, a little plain, but…  “Sponges!” he thought. “Barnacles! Clown fish! Sand dollars! Electric eels! Oh, there are so many possibilities! I cannot wait to get started!”

Source: Eric Carle 2014 falconer/class media.

The Tenses

The tenses allow us to move through time and express our ideas, actions, desires and wishes whenever we want. We should keep in mind that time is divided into three main time groups: the past, present and future.

Each group has 4 tenses in the English grammar: simple, continuous, perfect simple, perfect continuous.

That is 12 tenses in total. Let’s see how tenses are easily divided and understood. In order to comprehend them better we are going to divide the four tenses of each group into 2 similar groups. We will name Simple Tenses all the simples and continuous ones and Perfect Tenses the perfect simple and the present continuous.

The Simple Tenses

Tenses always talk about a moment in time. Our first group the simple tenses talk about one moment in time. Therefore the simple present and continuous talk about one moment in present, the past simple and continuous about one moment in the past and the future simple and continuous about one moment in the future. They do not connect different time groups but remain within their own time group.

All these tenses use key or signal words in sentences to show us the moment in time that they talk about. Remember that signal words are one of the main indicators of time in a sentence other than meaning so it is very important to look for these signals words in sentences before making your final decision about tense.

The perfect tenses

In contrast to the simple tenses, this group connects two moments in time. Perfect means completed therefore one moment included in all perfect tenses is the past. Depending on the tense we can find the second moment in time connected to the past. In this way the present perfect tenses connect a moment in the past with a moment in the present, the past perfect tenses connect two moments in the past, and the future perfect tenses connect a moment in the past with a moment in the future.

We must keep in mind that perfect means the verb: HAVE, so in present perfect tenses the verb uses its present form (have), in the past perfect tenses it uses its past form (had) and in the future perfect tenses it uses its future form (will have). We add the past participle form of the main verb to complete the perfect simple tenses. The continuous tenses have to follow the rule of all the continuous tenses (be + ing) and the rule of all the perfect tenses (have/had/will have). In order to form the perfect continuous tenses we combine the verb have + been + main verb ing.

Hello everyone, here D, today I bring a iconic story, I hope you like it. Don't forget to share it. Have a nice day 

Alice in Wonderland

Once upon a time there lived a little girl called Alice. One day Alice was listening to her history lesson.

“Alice! You are not paying attention,” her sister scolded.

“But it is dull!” Alice moaned. “The book needs pictures.”

“Nonsense!” her sister said.

“In my world, every book would have pictures,” Alice replied. “And everything would be nonsense!”

Later, Alice was resting in the soft grass. She thought about her special world and she began to fall asleep. Suddenly a white rabbit ran by. “I’m late, I’m late!” He cried. It was a talking rabbit! In a coat! With a pocket watch! “Mr. Rabbit, wait!” Alice called after him. “I’m late for a very important date. No time to talk! I’m late!” he answered. Then he disappeared down a rabbit hole.

Alice was curious, so she followed the rabbit into the hole. It was dark. She crawled forward.

Then the ground disappeared! Alice fell, but she fell slowly. Strange objects passed by her: a lamp, a mirror, a rocking chair, and still she feel. “Perhaps I’ll fall right through the earth and out the other side,” Alice thought. Finally, Alice reached the bottom. There she saw a little door.

“Pardon me,” Alice said. “May I enter?” “You are too big,” the doorknob said. “Try the bottle.”

Alice saw a little bottle marked “Drink Me.” So she did it. Suddenly she shrank! Now Alice was small enough to fit through the door. But it was locked.

“You forgot the key!” The doorknob said. Alice saw the key on top of a table, but she was too small to reach it.”

“Now try the box,” the doorknob said. Inside the box was a cookie saying “Eat Me.” Alice ate it. She grew into a giant!

“Oh, no!” Alice sobbed. She cried and cried. Her giant tears filled the room with water. “The bottle!” the doorknob cried. Alice drank more and shrank again. This time she became so small, she feel inside in the bottle! Suddenly she was swept through the door on an ocean of tears.

Alice saw a strange dodo and other birds floating along beside her. “Mr. Dodo! Help me please!” She cried, but he did not hear her.

Alice soon washed ashore, where she saw the dodo again. “Run with the others,” the dodo instructed her, “or you will never get dry,” but Alice ran after the white rabbit instead.

Alice followed the rabbit into a forest, where she met Tweedledee and Tweedledum. “I am looking for the white rabbit,” Alice told them.

“Why?” asked Tweedledum. “Well, I am curious.” Alice answered. “AH!” The twins replied. “The oysters were curious too!” Then they told Alice the story of the curious oysters.

One day the walrus and his friend the carpenter were walking on the beach. The carpenter saw something very interesting below the water.

“Walrus!” The carpenter called. “You must see this!”

Under the water there was a group of young oysters. “Come with me,” the walrus said to the oysters. “We will see many things: shoes, ships, sealing wax, cabbages, and kings!”

The curious oysters followed the sneaky walrus. The walrus led them to a restaurant with only one thing on the menu- oysters! He ate all the curious oysters! He did not even share with his friends. “How sad!” Alice commented. “Yes!” sobbed Tweedledum. “Now, there is a lesson to learn!”

As the twins cried, Alice quietly slipped away. Alice wandered farther into the forest. Soon she met a big blue caterpillar. “Who are you?” the caterpillar asked. “I hardly know, sir,” Alice. “I have changed my size so many times!”

The caterpillar stood up and he began to spin around and around. When he stopped, he had turned into a beautiful butterfly!

“Here is a tip,” he said. “One side will make you larger; the other side will make you smaller.”

“Other side of what?” Alice asked.

“The mushroom, of course!” He shouted as he flew away.

Alice was tired of being there inches tall. She broke off a piece of mushroom from each side. She ate one, and… shoom!

She grew taller than the trees! “Oh dear!” Alice cried. “Will I ever get the hang of this?” she gently licked the other piece. Alice shrank back down to normal size. “Now, that is better,” she said.

Alice continued her search for the white rabbit, but soon she was lost. Then she heard a voice up in a tree. “Diddledeedum… Duddledaadidle… caddledeedum,” sang the voice.

Alice looked up. She did not see anything. Then a smiling face magically appeared “why, you are a cat!” Alice said.

“a Cheshire cat,” he replied as his body appeared from nowhere. “I am looking for the rabbit” Alice said. “where should I go?” “where do you want to go?” the Cheshire cat asked.

“Well I do not know” Alice answered. “Then it does not matters!”

“If I were looking for a rabbit, I would stand on my head!” the silly cat said. “You could ask the marsh hare; he is to the left. I would ask the mad hatter; he is to the right”

“He really is mad, but most everyone here is! As you can see even I am not all there!” Then the Cheshire cat disappeared.

Alice walked to the mad hatter’s house she heard voices singing. It was the mad hatter, the March hare and dormouse. They were having a tea party, Alice sat down.

“You cannot sit! It is rude,” the March hare said. “I am sorry,” Alice replied. “But I liked your singing.”

“you did? Really?” the mad hatter asked. “Then you must join us!” “yes, join our un-birthday party,” the March hare added. “Un-birthday?” Alice asked. “Yes,” there are 365 days in a year. You have one birthday and 364 un-birthdays!”

“I see,” Alice said. “But I am looking for the white rabbit. The cat said…”

“CAT?!” shouted the dormouse, who had been sleeping in a teapot. He jumped out and ran around the table.

“You see what you did?!” the mad hatter yelled at Alice. “I am sorry, but I really do not have time for this silliness.” Alice said.

“Time? I have no time! I am late!” it was the white rabbit!

“No wonder!” the mad hatter cried. “Your watch is two days late! I will fix it.”

The mad hatter fixed the watch with butter, cream, sugar, and, of course, tea. “Oh, my poor watch!” The rabbit cried, running off.

Alice grew tired of the mad tea party. She left. “What a silly nonsense!” she said. “I had enough nonsense. I am going home.”

Alice walked farther into the forest. She came to a sign marked “Tugley Wood” and followed it. Soon Alice was surrounded by all kinds of strange, nonsensical animals.

“Oh, no!” Alice cried. “I cannot take any more. I wish I had never dreamed of a world where everything was nonsense!” then Alice heard a familiar song. “Diddledeedum… Duddledaadidle… caddledeedum.”

“Oh, Cheshire Cat, it is you!” Alice called. “I have had enough. I want to go home, but I have lost my way.”

“That is because all ways here are the queen’s ways,” he replies. “Queen? What queen?” Alice asked. “You have not met her?” The cat asked. “Oh, you must! She will be mad about you!”

Then a doorway opened in the tree. Alice entered. Soon she heard three playing cards singing about painting roses red.

“Why are you doing that?” Alice asked the three playing cards. “We planted white roses by mistake!” the two of clubs replied. “The Queen of Hearts likes red. If she finds out, she will chop our heads!”

Alice hurried to help them. Suddenly the sound of drums and trumpets blared! “It is the queen!” the cards cried. “The queen is coming!”

Alice and the cards got down on their knees. “Announcing her Royal Majesty, the Queen of hearts!” the white rabbit proclaimed. “Oh, and the king, too,” he added. “Why, you are a little girl!” the Queen said, looking at Alice. “What are you doing here?” “I want to go home,” Alice answered. “But I have lost my way.”

“Your way?!” the Queen roared. “Every way is my way! Remember that!” Then the queen invited Alice to play a game of croquet. But what a game! Instead of a ball, the Queen used a hedgehog! And instead of a mallet, she used a flamingo!

The queen finished her shot. Then it was Alice’s turn. Alice tried, but the flamingo would not play along! “Do you want us both to lose our heads?” Alice asked the silly flamingo. Alice got angry. She grabbed the bird and whacked the ball as hard as she could! The shot was better than the Queen’s. The Queen was furious!

“Off with her head!” she screamed. “Uh, should not we have a trial first, dear?” asked the king. “Oh, very well!” the Queen replied angrily.

Everybody gathered around the Queen in her court. “Hear ye!” the white rabbit cried. “Court is now in session!”

“But what I have done?” Alice pleaded. “Silence!” the Queen demanded. “Oh, forget the trial! Let’s just cut off her head.

Alice struck her hands into her pockets. She found a piece of mushroom. She quickly ate it and she grew into a giant! “Now, see here,” Alice said to the shocked queen. “You have no right to treat me like this. You are not queen. You are a nasty, bad-tempered old tyrant!”

But the mushroom’s effect was wearing off. Alice shrank back down to her regular size!

Oh, no! Alice was in trouble, she ran! Soon Alice saw the small door she had used to enter this nonsense world. Alice grabbed the doorknob. “I must get out!” she cried. “you are out,” the doorknob said. “See it for yourself.”

Alice looked through the keyhole. She saw herself sleeping under the tree. “Wake up! Wake up!” she yelled. “Alice!” “Alice! Alice!” Alice woke up. She was back. “Alice!” her sister said. “You were dreaming. What nonsense!”

“Yes, it was nonsense,” Alice agreed. “It was fun, but I have enough nonsense to last me for quite some time! Shall we go home now?”

Hello, D again here. Today I bring some facts about an important singer of our century. I hope you like it, please, don’t forget to share it with friend or with people who may need this info. Have a good day.

Sting, one of the most famous English singers started his solo career in 1985. His first album The Dream of the Blue Turtles reached triple platinum in the U. S. A., and included important hits like: “If you love somebody set him free” and “Russians.”

After two years of this successful album, Sting released his second record titled Nothing like the sun which included the hit song “Englishman in New York.”

The song is the story of an Englishman living in New York. The man realized the remarkable differences that exist between these two cultures. For example, in the first verse when the singer says: “I don’t drink coffee, I take tea… I like my toast on one side”. Other simple comparisons that the singer points out are in the accent, physical appearance, and even manners. The man in New York feels like a stranger in a society that really differs from his.

This song is a reflection on the simple but significant differences between two ways of life.

HERE THE LINK IF YOU WANT TO HEAR THE SONG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d27gTrPPAyk

Source: Navigators 10 teaching resourcing 2011

Hello, Today I bring a useful reading in order to make you identify various things in a text, like the kind of the text, what you can infer about it.

By about 30.000 years ago, modern humans had spread to almost all parts of the world. They were almost exactly the same as people of today, although a little shorter.

These people lived mainly by hunting. They caught antelope, rabbits, pigs, elephants, birds and other animals. Some of the animal they killed were quite large. This shows that the people must have lived in large groups and worked together. The people in the groups probably had leaders.

The work of the men and the women was probably very different. The men hunted and built places to live in. They made tools. The women prepared food and looked after the children. They made clay pots and they used skins to make clothes. Living in large groups helped their language to develop. People started to make paintings on the Walls of caves. At this time most of the paintings show animals and hunting scenes. They also made carved objects out of bones and Stone.

Source: Los Tres Editores s. a. s. (Estándares y competencias en IDIOMA EXTRANJERO 11°)

Today I bring a funny story about a truly fact in a certain country, I hope you like it.

In Britrain, you have to take a test if you want to ride a motorbike. in the test you always have to do an 'emergency stop', where you stop the bike as quickly possible.

One day a young woman was taking her test. Everything was going well when the examiner called her and told herto stop the bike. He wanted to see an emergency stop, so he asked the woman to continue riding round the streets until he jumped in front of the bike and shouted 'stop!' he told the young woman not to go too slowly, but to continue as usual. 

A little nervous, she continued quite slowly on the route and was nearly at the end when she saw a few people in the road. One of them waved and asked her to come and help them. Her examiner was sitting in the road, confused, but not badly hurt. 'What happened?' the biker asked. 'I jumped out on front of the wrong bike', said the examiner, 'and it did not stop'.

Source: Los Tres Editores s. a. s. (Estándares y competencias en IDIOMA EXTRANJERO 11°)

Here I bring a good reading for practicing the simple present tense. I hope you enjoy it. The idea is to make you read and understand the reading, Teachers and other people may use it for different purposes, like teaching or whatever.

Yesterday Debbie had a job interview.  She went downtown to the company. The interview was for

an accounting job. Debbie graduated university 3 months ago.

Her interview was at 10:00 am. She woke up at 7:00 am and left her house before 8:00 am. She

waited for the bus, but it was late. She was very worried because she did not want to be late for

the interview. She tried to phone the company to warn them, but her phone battery was dead.

When the bus arrived, it was almost 9:00 am. Then the bus was slow because there were many

other cars. The bus finally arrived at Debbie’s stop at 9:45 am.

Debbie ran from the bus stop to the office building. When she entered she saw a sign that said the

company was on the 24th floor. The elevator ride took almost 5 minutes because many people

stopped at different floors.  

When Debbie arrived at reception, it was 9:58. She was in time!  

“I am here to see Mrs. Lewis” said Debbie.

The receptionist checked her book and replied:  

“She is not here today.  What is your name please?”

“My name is Debbie Gregson.”

“Sorry Debbie, but your appointment is tomorrow.”

Debbie checked her agenda. It was true. She was there on the wrong day!

source:

http://www.learnenglish-online.com/grammar/readings/simplepastreading.html